What is Pointillism?

 Also known as Divisionism, Pointillism is a sophisticated pictorial technique.

 It attempts to use the science of optics when creating paintings. This was done by painting
small but separate dots of unmixed colors side by side, which were placed in various patterns
in order to form an image. It compels our eye and mind to merge and assimilate colour on a
wide chromatic range. Rather than mixing colours on a palette, Pointillists apply raw colour
directly onto the canvas. Using round or square touches of the paintbrush, their blending of
tones and pigments takes place on the surface of the canvas as they work, not on a palette
beforehand. This technique was a complete break with the traditional practices of the 19th
century.
 It is often viewed as part of the Post-Impressionist movement, as it rose in popularity between
the 1880s and 1890s after the Impressionist period had ended.
 Like Impressionist artists, Pointillists depict landscapes, portraits and seascapes; their aim being
to paint soothing scenes in open air.

The Birth of Pointillism

 Georges Seurat and Paul Signac’s practice and paintings led to the emergence of Pointillism,
usually associated with the year 1886.
 Both artists used this style earlier, but it was art critics who coined the term in order to describe
their extraordinary innovative approach to canvas and paint. In the very beginning (the late 19th
Century), the critique had a rather mocking attitude towards the technique used by Seurat and
Signac – they were criticizing their practice, believing that the term “Pointillism” would have a
pejorative connotation.
 However, history proved these sharp-penned pedantists wrong, while Pointillism entered the
books as one of the most progressive art movements of the era. Introducing a completely new
perception in the field of color studies, Pointillism has had a huge influence on various art
movements, spanning from the end of the 19th century and the avant-garde throughout the
20th.

Definition of the Style and Technique

 Pointillism describes a technique in which hundreds of small dots or dashes of pure color are
applied to the canvas, or another surface, in order to create maximum luminosity. This manner
of creating art relies on the ability of the eye and mind of the viewer to blend the color spots
into a range of tones.
 To do this, they relied on scientific theories about time and optical phenomena. Charles Henry, a
French librarian and editor who was interested in the subject, wrote a book called
the Chromatic Circle in which he demonstrated how positioning colours on a circle can help
create new colour combinations. From this, complementary colours were born. This method is
widely used today since the search for harmony involves the use of complementary shades, such
as blue with orange, red with green or yellow with purple.
 The dotted technique of Pointillism is in sharp contrast to the traditional methods of blending
pigments on a palette. It’s more similar to the four-color CMYK printing process used by some
 color printers (Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow, and Key (black)). If the composition is viewed
from a certain distance, (supposedly three times the diagonal measurement) the dots of color
give a richer and more subtle effect than can be achieved by conventional techniques. The
subject-matter is not as important as dots in Pointillist compositions. It’s all about the dots
and the image they create.
 Pointillism is characterised by a general saturation of tones. This explosive use of colour quite
clearly paved the way for Fauvism and Surrealism. The artists used different variations of the
same shade without mixing the pigments. This makes canvases appear softer and less visually
aggressive. The monochromatic aspect has been further developed which gives Pointillist works
an additional dimension of complexity and richness.
 Finally, the majority of Pointillism paintings have been done in oil paints. There are exceptions
to the rule but they are scarce scarcely to be found.

Legacy of Pointillism
 By the 1890s, Pointillism art had reached its peak, as many artists of the time had adopted the
technique in the artworks that were produced. Pointillism had a great influence on the Post-
Impressionist movement, which had spilled into the beginning of the 20th century. Post-
Impressionism emerged in the mid-1880s, and by many is regarded as the first true avant-garde
movement in painting. One of the main aims of the movement was to incorporate the latest
explanation of optic and color perceptions. By using dots or larger cube-like brushstrokes, Post-
Impressionists actually practiced the latest discoveries of the theory of colors and perception.
 While Pointillism is generally considered to have had the most influence in the technical area of
art, its experimentation with color theory and understanding of optical realism opened many
doors for future art movements. An important movement that developed in the wake of
Pointillism was Fauvism, which was inspired by the vivid use of color used by Pointillism artists.
It also had a big impact on other styles as well, including Cubism, and even Pop Art.
 As a painting technique, Pointillism was challenging to master and due to this, not many artists
are able to paint this way today. However, despite the heyday of Pointillism art being over,
many of its concepts and ideas are still being used by artists in a more contemporary context,
who are creating artworks in a variety of different mediums. Some of these mediums seen in
Modern Art today, that were clearly influenced by Pointillism, include fashion, tattoos and pixel
art of our computer screen.

Pointillism in Music
 The term “Pointillism” also refers to a music genre that emerged at the end of the 1940s. It’s
also sometimes called Punctualism and point music. Stockhausen defines this type of music
as music that consists of separately formed particles — however, complexly these may be
composed, as opposed to linear, or group-formed, or mass-formed music.
 The French word pointillisme, evoking Seurat's painting technique, had been applied to music
in this opposite sense of a "mosaic-like method of construction, an infinite accumulation of
small and insignificant inorganic details", with reference to Arnold Schoenberg's
operas, Erwartung and Die glückliche Hand. But, the most notable representatives of this
music genre were creating in the 1940s and 1950s. Of course, there aren’t direct relations
 between Pointillism in visual arts and Pointillism in music. However, they are based on the same
contemplative principles.

The Most Influential Pointillism Artists

 Beside Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, who conceived Pointillism as an art technique and
conducted the group of artists who adopted that painting style, later on, many other artists
were influenced by Seurat and Signac, claiming to be Pointillists themselves. Mostly, those were
French, Italian and Belgian artists, as they were the ones who contributed the most to the
development of Expressionism in Europe. Alongside them, some Dutch artists contributed to
the acknowledgment of the technique. Vincent van Gogh was one of them, as he occasionally
painted using what was known as the Pointillism technique. There were also artists like Camille
Pissarro, Albert Dubois-Pillet, Henri-Edmond Cross, Charles Angrand, and many others, who took
the leading roles in the Pointillism development throughout the second half of the 19th century.

Georges-Pierre Seurat 
 Year: 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891
 Birthplace: Paris, France
 Nationality: France
 Artworks: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Can-Can, The Lighthouse at
Honfleur, Gray weather, Grande Jatte
 Associated periods or movements: Divisionism, Modern art, Post-Impressionism, Neo-
impressionism, Pointillism
 Art Forms: Painting

One of the most famous Post-Impressionist painters of the 1880s in France, the short-lived French artist
Georges Seurat is noted for his invention of the colourist technique known as Pointillism, a form
of Divisionism.  In so doing, he pioneered the new style of Neo-Impressionism (a name invented by Felix
Feneon). As a response to Claude Monet's Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism lasted only a few short
years (1886-1891), but - thanks to Seurat and his contemporary Paul Signac (1863-1935) - it had a major
influence on Italian Divisionism (c.1890-1907) and on several other styles of Post-Impressionist painting,
notably the Synthetism/Cloisonism of Paul Gauguin (1848-1903); the expressionism of Vincent Van Gogh
(1853-90); the Fauvism of Henri Matisse (1869-1954); and the portraiture of the photorealist Chuck
Close (b.1940). Seurat's best known masterpieces of Post-Impressionism are Bathers at Asnieres (1883-
4, National Gallery, London) and A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-6, Art
Institute of Chicago). Unfortunately, Seurat’s life ended tragically at the age of 31 due to diphtheria.
However, the legacy of Seurat Pointillism lived on through other notable artists who experimented with
his technique.
Title: Un dimanche après-midi à l’Île de la Grande Jatte  

English: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’

Artist: Georges Seurat

Date: 1884–1886

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 207.5 × 308.1 cm (81 3/4 × 121 1/4 in.)

Location: Art Institute of Chicago

Possibly the most well-known masterpiece of Pointillism, in addition to being one of the most
significant paintings created within art history, is Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande
Jatte, painted between 1884 and 1886. This painting portrays members of different social classes
relaxing on an island in the Seine River known as La Grande Jatte and taking part in various park
activities. Due to the sheer size of the artwork and the technicality of this style, it took Seurat two years
to fully complete this painting, as he spent the majority of that time in the park sketching about 60
studies in preparation.
A detail of Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, indicating the monkey on a leash as well
as the orange, red, and blue border; Georges Seurat, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In 1889, Seurat made one final change to A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
He lengthened the canvas so that he could add a painted border made up of orange, red, and blue
dots. This was done to provide a visual passageway between the inner of the painting and its white
frame.

Art Analysis

Color

 Color is the primary visual element in this painting. Applying his scientific understanding of light
and color, Seurat used dots, dabs, and strokes of primary color pigment (red, yellow, and blue)
to compose the forms on the painting. An effect referred to as optical color mixture is produced
as the eye blends the colors to create new ones when viewed from a distance.

Texture

 Through the layering of the dots and dabs of paint, Seurat created an actual texture on the
canvas you can touch. The texture is not thick, but it enhances the effect of the color and
vibration of the picture. 

Line

 La Grande Jatte has strong horizontal and vertical lines throughout the painting. The upright
trees and erect forms of the people standing create the vertical lines. The people's shadows and
 direction they face (sideways), as well as the boats in the river and landscape create the
horizontal lines.

Depth

 Seurat achieves depth in this painting through the use of one-point linear perspective. The
vanishing point is on the right hand side of the painting-pulling the picture in towards it.

Proportion and Scale

 Most the elements in the painting are in proportion and scale to one another. There are a few
places in the painting where this is slightly off, however. For example, the fisherwoman by the
river is on the same plane with the central mother, but she only comes up to the mother's
shoulders. Also, the seated man in the top hat, if standing, would only reach the waist of the
promeneuse on the right.

Balance

 The picture has an asymmetrical balance.

Repetition and Rhythm

 Repetition and rhythm is used through the painting, accomplished by the horizontal and
vertical lines and through the repetition created with dabs and dots of paint. Repetition is also
seen through the placement and spacing of the people in the park.

Unity

 Through the horizontal and vertical lines, there is a geometric harmony and unity in the
painting.

Paul Signac (1863 – 1935)

 Year: 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935
 Birthplace: Paris, France
 Nationality: France
 Artworks: Van Gogh's House, The Papal Palace, Avignon, Setting Sun. Sardine Fishing. Adagio.
Opus 221 from the series The Sea, The Boats
 Associated periods or movements: Divisionism, Modern art, Post-Impressionism, Neo-
impressionism, Pointillism
 Art Forms: Painting

The other founder of Pointillism, as well as the second most important artist within this style, was
French painter Paul Signac. He was born as Paul Victor Jules Signac in Paris in 1863. Along with Georges
Seurat, Signac studied and developed the technique of Pointillism alongside him, as he was a student of
Seurat’s at the time. After Seurat’s untimely death, Signac continued to work within Pointillism
throughout the entirety of his career and left an enormous legacy of artworks that made use of the
technique.
Title: Opus 217. Sur l’émail d’un fond rythmique de mesures et d’angles, de tons et de teintes, Portrait
de M. Félix Fénéon en 1890

English: Opus 217. Against the Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones, and
Tints, Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon in 1890

Artist: Paul Signac

Year: 1890

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: Height: 73.5 cm (28.9 in); Width: 92.5 cm (36.4 in)

Location: Museum of Modern Art, NYC – MOMA

A very well-known work of Signac’s, which he painted in 1890, was titled Opus 217. Against the
Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones, and Tints, Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon.
Within this painting, Signac honored his friend, influential art critic, collector, curator, and dealer Félix
Fénéon, in a portrait that remains Signac’s most memorable and outstanding artwork in the Neo-
Impressionist style. This unconventional portrait mirrors the subject's originality. The enigmatic Fénéon
with his signature goatee, walking stick, and top hat, seems to set in motion a process of abstraction
based on the ironically white flower he extends toward the whirlpool of brightly colored and patterned
waves.

As for the title, the MoMA suggests that the very long title for this work may be "a spoof on
scientific terminology." That said, both Fénéon and Signac, as well as Seurat and other Neo-
Impressionists, were fascinated by the work of Charles Henry, whose recent publication on optical
theory included a color wheel. Signac's portrait of Fénéon is that color wheel set in motion.

Art Analysis

Color

 This portrait illustrates Signac’s preference for using vibrant and striking tones, as the
combination of colors seems overwhelming at first. The color wheel depicted in the background
demonstrates Signac’s impressive use of Pointillism, as viewers have to first optically blend the
colors before they are able to make sense of the shapes that form. The pure colors of the dots
combined in the viewer’s eye and mind creates a more vivid work.

Movement

 While both Fénéon and the white flower he holds remain motionless against the symphony of
colors, the title suggests motion and music through the word “Opus.” Additionally, movement
is implied through the Pointillist technique within this artwork, as the dots of vibrant color
seem to vibrate against one another. Fénéon’s profile adds to the movement in this painting, as
his nose, elbow, and cane decline in a zigzag type of pattern that is reminiscent of motion.

Rhythm

 “Algebra” of visual rhythm was used, which proposed a link between outer stimuli and psychic
reaction. The subject’s body creates a triangular pattern, while the curves of the flower echo the
upward trajectory of Fénéon’s goatee. The background is a rhythmic beat of swirling colors
contrasting with the foreground portrait of Fénéon and the flower. The swirling patterns in the
background create a color wheel with abstract designs meeting at a central point

Henri-Edmond Cross (1856 – 1910)

 Year: 20 May 1856 – 16 May 1910
 Artworks: L'Air du soir, Cypresses at Cagnes, Beach at Cabasson (Plage de baigne-cul)
 Birthplace: Douai, France
 Associated periods or movements: Neo-impressionism, Pointillism
 Nationality: France
 Art Forms: Painting

One of the most influential artists throughout the second phase of Post-Impressionism was a
French painter and printmaker Henri-Edmond Cross. He is most acclaimed as a master of Post-
Impressionism, with an instrumental influence in the development of Fauvism. In 1884, Cross was a co-
founder of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, which was the time when he met many like-minded
artists, including Georges Seurat, Albert Dubois-Pillet, and Charles Angrand. Despite the close
relationship with them, Henri-Edmond Cross didn’t adopt their style for many years. It was in 1891 when
he finally began painting in the manner of the group and the same year he exhibited his first art piece
made with Pointillist technique. It was a divisionist portrait of Madame Hector France, who became
Cross’s wife in 1893. In the years to come, the work of Henri-Edmond Cross had a special impact on the
artistic development of the artists like Henri Matisse and many others.

Title: L'air du soir

English: The Evening Air

Artist: Henri-Edmond Cross

Year: 1893

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Dimension: Height: 116 cm (45.6 in); Width: 164 cm (64.5 in)

Location: Musée Bonnat in Bayonne

Considered to be one of the artist's most important paintings then, Evening Air was initially
Cross's response to a challenge from Signac that both artists produce a "decorative monument" to the
Midi region of France that they both loved. Both this painting and the one Signac would go on to paint,
entitled The Time of Harmony (c. 1893), use such a homage to the Mediterranean in order to portray a
utopian anarcho-communist future. The abundance of light and water in the coastal settings of each
painting would have been recognized by fellow adherents to the cause as a reference to a model setting
for the ideal society. However, while Signac includes overtly political motifs in his painting, the Classical
thrust of Cross's more ambiguous imagery, as well as the more subdued tones of color, could be seen to
convey more of a feeling of personal nostalgia for a lost and unattainable mythical Golden Age, rather
than bearing a message of unadulterated hope.

Art Analysis

Color

 Cross chose late afternoon, when the heat and light were subsiding. His whole work expresses
the plenitude of this time of day: the soft colours of the setting sun. The poetic and lyrical force
of the painting is greatly indebted to the irregular, more expressive and larger brushstrokes that
the Neo-Impressionists had replaced the Pointillist dot with by the mid-1890s The larger
brushstroke also provides each mark with more autonomy and richness, a technique that treats
color as a plastic entity in its own right that is not subject to the dictates of naturalism, a
development that would have a profound effect on Fauvist painters such Henri Matisse.

Balance/Movement

 Evening Air depicts three sets of women languidly enjoying themselves beneath a group of trees
set within an idyllic coastal landscape, while the dreamlike imagery and subtly applied
chromatic scale the artist employs produces an overall mood of tranquillity. The horizontal and
vertical lines created a harmonious balance. The calm atmosphere pervading the picture is
complemented in the sculptural repose of the figures and the stillness of the boats that seem to
hover above the sea, features that nullify any suggestion of movement by imbuing what is
depicted with sense of grandeur and permanence.

Perspective/Volume

 Moreover, the Neo-Impressionist technique the artist has used reduces the optical illusion of
perspective and volume by emphasizing the flatness of the canvas, maintaining an equilibrium
throughout the picture that integrates the representation of the women into the environment.

Unity

 Cross thus communicates a peaceful and conflict-free co-existence between humankind and
nature, a harmonious state of affairs that is further enhanced by the way that several of the
women appear to emulate with their postures the patterns of their surroundings. For instance,
the group of women on the far left reproduce in their gestures the pattern of the tree trunk to
the right of them, while the woman seated in the foreground of the picture mimics with her face
in profile and her outstretched arm the silhouette of the larger of the boats. The artist thus
exploits content and form in order to produce a unified, decorative whole.